NEW YORK – Pakistan has called for reforms in the United Nations SecurityCouncil structure based on the principles of democracy, a press releasesaid.

Speaking in the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN)on SC reform, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi said that theprolonged stalemate in the reform process was due to a handful of countrieswho wanted to reinforce the Security Council as a preserve of theprivileged and powerful.

This, she said, was contrary to the democratic spirit and will not meet theinterest of all member states of the UN in an equitable manner.

The ambassador said that reinforcing the undemocratic elements of thecouncil was contrary to both democratic principles and values as well asthe principle of sovereign equality of states that underpins the Charter ofthe United Nations, according to the press release.

Calling the reform of the Security Council a ‘strategic endeavour’, Lodhisaid that while we did not choose the structure created in 1945, memberstates now have a choice. “This choice must be exercised judiciously and inconsonance with the democratic spirit of our era.”

She expressed Pakistan’s support to comprehensive reform of the council tomake it a more representative, democratic, accountable, transparent andeffective body.

According to the press release, Lodhi told the UN that at a time whengrowing and complex challenges to global peace and security warrant firmand decisive action by the Security Council, anything less would not onlyerode the standing of the Council but “would also undermine the ideal ofthe United Nations and the inspiring vision that it espouses for ourcollective humanity”.

Emphasising the need for consensus building, Lodhi said that sidesteppingit through quick fixes and procedural maneuvers has not helped move thereform process forward. “Instead they have accentuated and even widened ourdivergences”, she added.

“What we require is flexibility and a spirit of compromise to find commonground, foster goodwill and mutual understanding, and identify newconvergences and common approaches for a shared and consensual pathway toreform,” she said.

The ambassador hoped that these negotiations would see the triumph ofcollective good over individual interests. “After all, the UN was createdfor this very purpose and not for member states to rubber-stamp the will ofthe few”, she remarked.